In Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Hot Milk, adapted from Deborah Levy’s eponymous novel, a sun-drenched coastal town in Spain becomes a crucible for a mother and daughter weighed down by histories of illness, silence, and love. British-French actress and Sex Education breakout star Emma Mackey plays Sofia, a young woman tethered to her mother’s mysterious incapacity, while the seasoned Irish actress, Fiona Shaw takes on Rose, the querulous matriarch whose ailment seems to straddle the physical and psychological. Together, their performances map out a tense, claustrophobic intimacy that feels universal.
Both actors seem acutely aware of the paradox of love and entrapment often sharing the same breath. For Emma, the pull of Sofia was instinctive. “I have a mother, I’m a daughter, so part of reality always comes in. But this is so charged. I don’t know what it’s like to care for someone around the clock, to base your life on your mother’s needs — not just out of love, but necessity.” That necessity, she says, was the role’s axis. “It’s fascinating to explore two strong-headed women forced to coexist.”
Fiona, who has played matriarchs of all stripes, relished the chance to embody Rose’s restraint, the way she conceals damage beneath barbs and silence. “It was fantastic to play someone who cannot express what they want, has no capacity to express it, and instead says other things that have nothing to do with what’s going on. It was really refreshing and I don’t think I’ve ever played anything like it.” She chuckles, “Much easier actually, to give a speech.”
She’s referring, almost offhandedly, to the fiery eulogy in Andor’s first season finale, where her character Maarva (already dead) rises in holographic form to rouse Ferrix against the Empire. It’s one of the show’s most indelible passages that marries personal grief to collective revolt. But in Hot Milk, Fiona is playing the opposite. Here, she’s a woman whose language is evasive, broken, and misaligned with her inner life. Where Maarva’s voice galvanised a community, Rose’s silence tightens the noose around her daughter.
A still from ‘Hot Milk’
| Photo Credit:
MUBI
If Fiona speaks of silence, Emma speaks of pull. Much of Sofia’s life is defined by being pulled toward her mother, toward an affair, and toward the shadow of her estranged father. Her relationship with Vicky Krieps’ Ingrid becomes another test of ground and gravity. “She [Vicky] brings you into her world immediately, and it’s so pure,” Emma says. “But you never really know if Ingrid is telling the truth. You hope something will come of it, but it feels like it’s disappearing into dust.” That sense of precariousness fed directly into her process. “I loved the feeling of being pulled into these women’s lives and having to make sense of it through them.”
When asked to rank her favourites among the maternal figures she’s played on screen, Fiona smiles when reminded of her own revolutionary matriarch in Andor. “That was very well written. If characters are well written, you can flesh them out and be disciplined by the writing.” With Rose, though, the responsibility shifted. “I enjoyed not being responsible for the scenes. In a way, Emma was always responsible.”
Mackey pushes back with affection. “I feel like you were responsible for so much.”
Fiona laughs. “No, I just had to say, ‘More water,’ and you were like, ‘More water!’” But she also recalls how she was “quite frightened” during certain shoots. “One or two scenes were very difficult. I wasn’t sure I would get there on that day, and we had no time to try again tomorrow. You had to get it, and you did.”
A still from ‘Hot Milk’
| Photo Credit:
MUBI
If their relationship feels claustrophobic on screen, the actors insist the environment cracked it open. Fiona remembers the wind. “The wind was very much in her [Emma’s] scenes, on the beach. You felt the agitation of nature all the time.” Emma nods. “It’s such a character and such a part of everything reaching boiling points — the heat, water, salt, everything seeping into every crack of a person until it becomes, okay, I have to release this now.”
Fiona distills it further. “It’s where British people go to be free,” she jokes, and both dissolve into laughter.
The film is also thick with symbolism of medusas (the jellyfish, not the Greek myth), the sea, and the sweltering heat. Asked what animal Sofia might embody, Fiona leaps in. “Dolphin.” Then, reconsidering, she alludes to the particularly distressed German Shepherd that features in the film: “Or an Alsatian that’s tied up.” Mackey’s eyes light up when making the connection. “Yes. The dog that wants to be free, wants to bark and shout, but doesn’t know how until someone breaks the chain.” She grins. “Look at us finding symbolism everywhere.”
Hot Milk is currently streaming on MUBI
Published – August 26, 2025 10:34 am IST
